My Pink Lawyer™ Practice Areas

• florida minor's guardianships
  
  There are times when family members, friends or other loved ones are unable to make decisions on their own. This can be because of a mental and/or physical incapacity as a result of advanced age, injury, accident, developmental disability at birth or even simply because the person is a minor. Such persons may need a legal guardian appointed for their person and/or property to help them make care decisions for themselves, manage their property and enforce their legal rights. We are particularly good at helping parents choose the best guardians to raise their kids in the event they are unable to do so themselves. Be sure to order our free "Minor's Guardianship Guide for Parents"© if you want to learn more about how to choose the best guardians for your kids.

• florida guardian advocate proceedings (for special needs persons)
  
  Under Florida law, a guardian advocate may be appointed for a person with developmental disabilities if the person, even though competent, lacks the capacity to do some, but not all, of the tasks necessary to care for his or her person, property or estate. A "developmental disability" is defined as "a disorder or syndrome that is attributable to retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, spina bifida, or Prader-Willi syndrome and that constitutes a substantial handicap that can reasonably be expected to continue indefinitely." F.S. 393.063(10). This guardian advocate law is very useful because it streamlines the guardianship appointment process with the courts. A guardian advocate proceeding, though not without cost to set up, is significantly less expensive to establish than a "full-blown" incapacity guardianship.
  Becoming appointed guardian advocate for your adult child begins with filing a petition with the court and outlining the reasons a guardian advocate is necessary. Medical reports, including ISP or IEP reports, need to be filed to show the nature of your child's disability. Both parents should consent to the petition (even if divorced) to avoid unnecessary litigation and time delays in appointing a guardian advocate for your child. An attorney will be appointed by the court to meet with your child and represent his or her interests and make recommendations to the court on whether they believe appointment of a guardian advocate for your child is appropriate.
  Once appointed, initial reports and then annual reports will need to be filed with the court outlining the care plan for your child and accounting for any of his or her property, social security benefits or other income. Basically the Court wants to ensure that you, as your child's guardian advocate, are acting in his or her best interests at all times.
  Another consideration if you have a child with special needs who is receiving, or might in the future receive, any type of public assistance benefits, is to include a Special Needs Trust in your estate planning documents. A Special Needs Trust is a discretionary trust to provide for your special needs child but which won't jeopardize those public assistance benefits.